The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Recipe is crispy, golden, and can hold all of your favorite toppings, including cheese, veggies, sauce and more.
If you've been searching for a gluten-free pizza crust recipe that is:
- Chewy
- Soft
- Crisp on the edges
- Holds your toppings well
- Full of flavor
Then you, my friend, are in the right place. This is hands-down the best gluten-free pizza dough recipe and you can end your search right here.
As a proud Italian, I've always loved pizza. And one of my favorite parts about making pizza is experimenting with the dough. I've made pizza crust with sweet potato, zucchini, and (of course) quinoa. But this is the recipe I'll return to forever when I want the classic pizza parlor experience at home, without the gluten.
How to Make Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
This recipe is loosely based on one from King Arthur Flour. They never, ever steer me wrong. Once you have the ingredients, it's easy to throw together for pizza night.
Ingredients
Here's what you need for your dough:
- Brown rice and sorghum. These are both gluten-free flour alternatives that are easy to find at well-stocked grocery stores and online.
- Tapioca starch. This is a gluten-free thickener that helps
- Quinoa flakes. These help develop the nutty flavor of your crust.
- Sugar. This feeds the yeast so your dough has a nice texture and tangy flavor.
- Baking powder. To help your dough rise and get puffy in the oven.
- Xanthan gum. This is a secret ingredient for gluten-free baking that helps
- Warm water. Make sure your water measures between 80 to 90°F, which will activate the yeast without killing them.
- Milk. The same goes for your milk, it should be 80 to 90°F.
- Instant yeast. This variety of yeast does not need to
- Olive oil. To soften up the dough and give it that delicious olive flavor.
Tips & Tricks
If this is your first time making pizza dough, it's easy to master. This dough has one rising period after making the dough. During this time, the yeast is most active. It should rise in volume and get a little puffy. Also, the flavors are developing for a tangy dough.
While the pizza dough rests, preheat the oven to 425°F. You want your oven to be nice and hot when you add the pizza so the dough crisps up nicely.
Remove the crust and add toppings after it's become crispy and golden. Then return the pizza to the oven to finish.
Topping Ideas
Truly, you can load this crust up with any of your favorite pizza toppings. Here are some combos I personally love:
- Tomato sauce, thinly sliced Italian meats, and goat cheese
- Pesto, fresh basil, and mozzarella
- Tomato sauce, ricotta, and fresh oregano
Or, you can simply pile your pizza crust high with colorful roasted vegetables. There's no wrong way to eat this crust.
I think you'll agree that this is the best gluten-free pizza dough recipe around, and here's to many more pies!
More Favorite Pizza Recipes
- Vegan BBQ Pizza with Quinoa Crust
- Life-Changing Sweet Potato Pizza Crust
- Summer Tomato & Zucchini Quinoa Pizza
Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup quinoa flakes
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup warm water about 80 - 90 degrees
- 1/2 cup warm milk about 80 - 90 degrees
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the toppings:
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 8 - 10 slices spicy sopresatta
- 4 - 6 slices prociutto
- 4 oz goat cheese
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Freshly grated romano cheese
Instructions
- Whisk together the dry ingredients (except the yeast) and add them to the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment. Add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture to a separate mixing bowl, whisk in the yeast and set aside.
- Beat together the wet ingredients and add to the flour/yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Let rest for 30 minutes until the mixture has puffed up and is bubbly.
- Add this liquid mixture to the dry mixer in the stand up mixer and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Cover and let the dough rest for another 30 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once the dough has rested, pour some olive oil into the center of baking sheet and turn the dough out. Using wet hands, spread the dough until it's 1/4" thick. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until it's starting to brown and slightly crispy.
- Add toppings, return to the oven and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes unti the goat cheese has begun to soften. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes and romano cheese.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Just tried this recipe for my son and he has come back 4 times to thank me so far. Just the best GF crust we have made and like everyone, we have tried many over the years.
Biggest joy and surprise is that it is crunchy and has a chewy texture too. Made half into a pizza type bread which we also loved and will try freezing for quick snack needs. We will try par baking some crusts, then freezing for a quicker pizza. Made it in my new Nutra ninja food processor and loved how easily it came together too. So glad I found your site and that you’ve done this great work to make a crust we can savour.
Thanks from our family
Thank you so much for the incredible comment and story. Thrilled you and your family enjoyed the pizza!! Can’t wait to hear how the par baking goes. Would be great to know how it freezes! xoxo
Pingback: 30 Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Recipes
Pingback: Cheddar Quinoa Biscuits - Simply Quinoa
Pingback: Best Gluten Free Pizza Dough Recipe | my gluten free diet
I dont do well on yeast either do you think baking soda or baking powder would work?
Have you had a chance to try Quinoa flour?? Going to substitute it for some of the other flours you used and give that a shot tonight 🙂
I haven’t in this particular recipe, but think it would would be okay. I would swap out some of the brown rice flour, and I would try toasting the quinoa flour so it has a more mild flavor. Let me know how it works out! I also have this recipe which uses quinoa flour: https://www.simplyquinoa.com/gluten-free-multigrain-pizza-with-crispy-proscuitto/
Due to family food allergies, I would have to substitute quinoa flour for the rice flour. I also cannot use yeast…suggestions there?
I would say just skip the yeast. It won’t be as fluffy, might be a little dense, but I think it will taste good. Please report back 🙂
I am trying to avoid gums and found this helpful website with a substitution for xanthan gum using psyllium husk, chia seeds, and flax seeds:
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/pixie-dust-xanthan-gum-replacer/
I tried it tonight with this pizza crust recipe and it worked like a charm. The pizza was fabulous. This is my new “go-to” recipe for homemade pizza! Thank you!
I’ve been searching for a good GF pizza dough to make for my friend’s wife. My search is over. This isn’t just good it is fantastic. Thanks very much.
Thank you Andrew!! So happy that you guys both enjoyed it. I’ve been making this on a weekly basis since I created the recipe and it’s definitely one of favorite on the site!
I am really impressed with the crust. It turned out great! Have you tried making a double batch and freezing half yet? If not, do you think that would work?
No one has tried it; only comments on how good it looks. I tried it today and am waiting on the “second rest period”. Dough is VERY thin and does not resemble dough as we know it. It’s almost like a very wet biscuit dough that I would add more flour to. Your instructions don’t talk about consistency or how it should look. Doesn’t talk about rolling, stretching etc. so I didn’t know what to expect. In 15 minutes I will have to do something with it; maybe try to bake a small piece and see what happens? I’ll post the results later……….
Hi Mary – hopefully I catch you in time. Have you ever baked anything gluten-free before? The dough is COMPLETELY different than anything you would make with gluten. It will not resemble the traditional pizza dough at all. It should be almost scoopable. Like a thick brownie batter, still wet. How I suggest, is that you scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, then spread it out with wet hands. I don’t suggest trying to roll it because it’s so sticky. This is also why you let it pre-bake. Don’t be scared of the wet consistency now, that’s just how gluten-free doughs are! Hope you enjoy – would love to know how it turns out for you 🙂
I was pleasantly surprised and would not believe this would turn out edible at all! It was very good; one of the better ones I have tried. However, none other has been sticky/wet and I rolled or stretched them out. I wasn’t able to use wet hands to spread it out and used a flat metal chopper thingy. That seemed to work OK and I am glad I didn’t add more flour like I was inclined to do when I saw it.
I am not fond of brown rice flour flavor or the grittiness, so would you not recommend subbing some other? I had a great Belgian waffle recipe using 1/3 millet flour, 1/3 quinoa flour, 1/3 sorghum flour. Do you think that would that work for this crust?
I don’t have a standing mixer. I assume this will work with elbow grease and kneading?
I can’t guarantee that it will work because gluten-free dough doesn’t need any kneading. You could try with a hand mixer, but honestly, I’ve found that gluten-free doughs work best in a stand mixer. Let me know if you give it a shot! You might be sore the next day 😉
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I’ve been trying to make a great pizza crust with no luck. Thank God my husband will eat anything! Unfortunately for me I can’t have potatoes so the King Arthur flour blend is out for me. I’m also trying so hard to be dairy free. Sometimes I just have it anyways and suffer for it. Sometimes I have cheese-less pizza with a crust that is sub-standard at best so thanks for the daiya tip. Oh how I envy those with no food allergies!
I know, but it’s recipes like these that make having food allergies seem better. You can use whatever type of milk you want in this recipe, I used almond and it was spectacular. I think you could use an GF all purpose flour, but if you’re making your own, you can easily substitute tapioca starch for the potato starch. Would love to know how the recipe turns out for you! xo Alyssa
what would you use for someone (me) allergic to Xanthum gum?
I would suggest using guar gum instead 🙂
Looks wonderful! Any thoughts on a best non-dairy milk to sub by chance?
Fawn
Absolutely! Any milk would work. I used almond milk and it was fabulous 🙂
Hi,
your recipe looks very good but would you have a suggestion to substitute de rice flour, I am trying to avoid it since I read that rice contains high level of arsenic.
Thanks, Nathalie
Hi Nathalie – you could just use more sorghum flour!
do you think you have to use the xanthan gum? I’m not supposed to eat that?
I think you do need a gum of some sort, yes. Rather than using xanthan gum, you could try using guar gum and see if that works. I’m pretty sure it will yield the exact, if not incredibly similar result. Conversely, you could also use psyllium husks, but I’m not positive about the ratio. I’m not very familiar with using psyllium husks in my baking, but a lot of gluten-free bloggers do. I would just do a quick Google search, I’m sure that you’ll come up with the ratio for substitution. Hope that helps! xo Alyssa
Wow. Looks great. Will try crust with your cashew ricotta this week. Hoping my little guy likes it. He so misses pizza. No gluten, corn, or dairy. It’s hard when EVERY kid party and get together serves pizza. So far glutenfree pizza has been a terrible disappointment for him.
Store bought gluten-free pizza sucks. There’s no getting around it 🙂 I tried to find something that I enjoyed and realized I just had to make it myself. I highly recommend this crust and my guess is that you’re little guy will like the cashew ricotta. Have you tried Daiya cheese? It’s actually pretty tasty…can’t remember is there’s corn in it though, and it melts! Let me know how the crusts work out. I hope he enjoys it 🙂
Hello Queen of Quinoa,
this recipe sounds fantastic!
I can get just about all but one ingredient here in Germany: Quinoa flakes.
Do you think it’s possible to grain Quinoa in a grain mill attachment of my KitchenAid? They won’t come out as flakes, so would this influence the outcome of the pizza at the end?
I can’t wait to try out this recipe!
Thank you for it!
Eva
Hi Eva – thanks! To answer your question about quinoa flakes vs. flour, I do think it will change the recipe slightly. I think if you used just quinoa flour, it might make it a bit more dry. I would suggest using just a little less quinoa flour than quinoa flakes, but taste wise, it won’t change a thing. I would try maybe 3 tablespoons of quinoa flour instead of a 1/4 cup and see where that gets you. Let me know how it turns out! I’ll make sure to experiment using quinoa flour on my own and will report back with my measurements. Enjoy!! 🙂
I would love to know how the 3 tblsp quinoa flour (substituted for the 1/4 c. flakes) worked out.
Thanks!
This looks really good! I have not found a homemade gluten-free pizza crust that I LOVE yet, so I’ll have to give this one a try! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks, Michelle! Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think 🙂
Came across you in the Healthy Eating email ; going to look at the chipolte burrito bowl, saw the pizza, and stopped dead! It should be illegal to have such yummy-looking pics available late at night when one is craving something wonderful, LOL.
Do you by any chance know what the carb count would be ? If not, I can estimate… DH & DS are diabetic, but they do love pizza! The tricky part is how to count it. They can eat most things in moderation, or dmall amounts, if carbs are higher than allower.we eat lost of salads and “free” veggies when they use up carbs quickly.
Thank you for the recipe; now I will see if I can find the ingredients here.
I’m not sure about the carb count on this recipe, so sorry! I do know there are lots of recipe calculators out there that let you plug in the ingredients and it gives you the nutrition facts. Shouldn’t be hard to find 🙂 Hope you’re able to try the crust. It’s really amazing!! xo
To lower the Carb amount in the pizza crust, so that the Carbamount and GI lowers amazingly, is to take half of the dough and replace it with mashed (not pureed) cauliflower and add an egg! 😀 but you have to push it in the pan/tray, instead of rolling it;) (because it will break otherwise haha). Not only low Carb, but superhealthy (depending on what you put on the pizza)!
You can google Cauliflower pizza, and you’ll amazing recipes, but the half – half (if you can have a little bit of carbs) taste way better of course;)